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For the full review/pics, do visit http://yumyumformytumtum.com/2013/01/03/private-affairs-a-raffles-place-gem/

I went for the 4-Course Festive Set Lunch ($46++), which included 2 appetizers, a main, dessert and a glass of Astoria Prosecco, an Italian sparkling white wine to add to the festive cheer. Their usual set lunches are priced at $36++/$40++ for 3 or 4 course set lunches, which comes without the prosecco.
The setting of the restaurant is chic, catering mainly to the corporate crowd around the Raffles Place area.
Appetizers were the stars of the show. The Bamboo Clams with Mantako Sauce were extremely tender compared to the ones I have had at Chinese restaurants, tasting very much like sweet tender squid bathed in a briny sauce made from pollock roe.
One of the anchor dishes that hardly goes wrong at Private Affairs is their Pan Seared Foie Gras, Caramelized Cinnamon Apple with Calvado Sauce (Calvados is a type of Apple Brandy). The foie gras was seared well, leaving a gorgeous thin crisp outer shell. The sweet salty combination doesn’t get old either.
The Hokkaido Scallop & Baby Octopus, Coco Bean with Truffle Ponzu Emulsion was well executed too, much to the delight of the scallop lover in me. The Truffle Ponzu emulsion was a savory cream-based sauce that enhanced the sweetness of the scallops further. I found the side of coco beans unnecessary though, as upon chewing, its powdery rough texture didn’t complement the smoothness of the scallop.

Feeling a little heaty, I ordered the Atlantic Cod Fish, Fennel & Zucchini with Saffron Porridge as my main. While most of us might be more familiar with Black Cod, which goes by the name of 鳕鱼 in Chinese restaurants or Gindara in Japanese restaurants, the Atlantic Cod is slightly different, whose texture is more lean and less buttery, though still a relatively fatty fish. The flavours of this dish were rather subtle, with the porridge tasting of lobster bisque with fragrant seafood flavours, and not masking the refreshing nature of the fish.

I was rather impressed by the Crispy Duck Leg Confit, Honey Onion Marmalade, Bacon & Poached Egg, mainly because of the consistency in the moistness of the duck. The duck was also not overly salty, which is an issue frequently encountered at numerous restaurants. The poached egg felt a little out of place though.

For desserts, R and myself both had the Baileys Banana Trifle, made using Vanilla Ice Cream, Raisins and Chocolate Cake. Awfully delicious.

For the full review/pics, do visit http://yumyumformytumtum.com/2013/01/03/private-affairs-a-raffles-place-gem/

I went for the 4-Course Festive Set Lunch ($46++), which included 2 appetizers, a main, dessert and a glass of Astoria Prosecco, an Italian sparkling white wine to add to the festive cheer. Their usual set lunches are priced at $36++/$40++ for 3 or 4 course set lunches, which comes without the prosecco.
The setting of the restaurant is chic, catering mainly to the corporate crowd around the Raffles Place area.
Appetizers were the stars of the show. The Bamboo Clams with Mantako Sauce were extremely tender compared to the ones I have had at Chinese restaurants, tasting very much like sweet tender squid bathed in a briny sauce made from pollock roe.
One of the anchor dishes that hardly goes wrong at Private Affairs is their Pan Seared Foie Gras, Caramelized Cinnamon Apple with Calvado Sauce (Calvados is a type of Apple Brandy). The foie gras was seared well, leaving a gorgeous thin crisp outer shell. The sweet salty combination doesn’t get old either.
The Hokkaido Scallop & Baby Octopus, Coco Bean with Truffle Ponzu Emulsion was well executed too, much to the delight of the scallop lover in me. The Truffle Ponzu emulsion was a savory cream-based sauce that enhanced the sweetness of the scallops further. I found the side of coco beans unnecessary though, as upon chewing, its powdery rough texture didn’t complement the smoothness of the scallop.

Feeling a little heaty, I ordered the Atlantic Cod Fish, Fennel & Zucchini with Saffron Porridge as my main. While most of us might be more familiar with Black Cod, which goes by the name of 鳕鱼 in Chinese restaurants or Gindara in Japanese restaurants, the Atlantic Cod is slightly different, whose texture is more lean and less buttery, though still a relatively fatty fish. The flavours of this dish were rather subtle, with the porridge tasting of lobster bisque with fragrant seafood flavours, and not masking the refreshing nature of the fish.

I was rather impressed by the Crispy Duck Leg Confit, Honey Onion Marmalade, Bacon & Poached Egg, mainly because of the consistency in the moistness of the duck. The duck was also not overly salty, which is an issue frequently encountered at numerous restaurants. The poached egg felt a little out of place though.

For desserts, R and myself both had the Baileys Banana Trifle, made using Vanilla Ice Cream, Raisins and Chocolate Cake. Awfully delicious.

Never trust anyone when they tell you to sleep over an idea. I have been putting my visit to Private Affairs off for some time, until they decided to move away from my humble village in the East to a more centralized location. What could have been a convenient 5-minute dinner destination now became an exhausting search around the dark alleys of CBD.

A dinner slot for two opened up at Private Affairs @ Boon Tat Street during Restaurant Week, so I jumped at the opportunity to check out the new establishment at a discount. After walking past the restaurant at least twice, I figured 2 things – the restaurant signage could definitely use a little more ostentatiousness, and the dinner slot was made available probably because no one could find the restaurant.

Situated in a shop house, akin to their concept back in Joo Chiat, the juxtaposition of the old façade with a modern interior gave it an interesting perspective. The lift ride up to the second floor proved unnecessary, and was probably proposed by a NUS architect student drop out.

The boy and I paid a visit to the newly renovated Private Affairs last night and tried out what they had to offer! Parking's quite a b**** there cos there's limited spaces by the roadside. Um and they dont have valet so yea. Upon reaching the restaurant, (there's no like 'door' to it, just look out for a huge staircase!) and tell the waitress your name if you made a reservation then she'll walk w you to the lift and seat you at your seat.

Seating capacity's quite small, approx 25 I think? And the tables are awfully close, especially the couple tables! Look at how close that table in the foreground is to us! Luckily there wasn't a lot of ppl there that night and so the table next to us wasn't occupied, else it would've been quite uncomfortable.

They only have a 5 course Dinner degustation menu OR you order the dishes from the degustation as ala carte! (Ie pick which dishes you want frm the degustation menu only and that's the ala carte menu) which is VERY limited IMO. Maybe its because they just started or sth? They would definitely have to expand the menu should they want to garner more customers or even warrant a 2nd time back. For us, we ordered 1 degustation menu and 1 ala carte main to share.

Complimentary sun-dried tomato bread

This is one of the better complimentary breads around! Really hot when served, it was v crispy on the outside and light + fluffy on the inside!!! A real good bread. Only gripe? The sun-dried tomato flavour wasnt that strong or wtv the ingredients were inside! The only thing that was good was the texture of the bread and the bread's natural aroma haha. There were pieces of stuff inside that looked like dried tomato but I'm not sure whether they were!

Another gripe, the waitress just kept the plates and stuff aft we finished the bread w/o bothering to ask us if we wanted more! First time experiencing this...

Hamachi Sashimi

Wasabi green pea puree, arvuga, crispy ponzu

(Ala carte: $22)

The puree didnt taste like wasabi at all, the brown ice thingy at the bottom of the sashimi tasted like shoyu ice haha and the cubes tasted like Jap root veg! Really liked the cube! The sashimi wasn't cold enough for me but fresh nonetheless. This is something like a deconstructed sashimi in traditional Jap restaurants. 3.4/5

Capellini pasta

Seared scallop, truffle oil, parmesan cheese

(Ala carte entree: $23, Main: $33)

This smelt super good but sadly, smells dont equate to taste sometimes and this was such a case. The aroma of the truffle oil brought up our hopes for this dish but sadly it was a disappointment. The pasta tasted so bland! It was as if it was just pure boiled pasta, no taste of truffle oil or even the aroma of it? The scallop was seared nicely though. Not worth a try unless you really want a nice scallop. 3/5

Pan seared foie gras

Slow cooked egg, morel mushroom sauce

(Ala carte: $27)

We both felt this was the best appetizer. The waitress recommended that we break the egg and mix it w the morel mushroom sauce and that was what we did! The sauce was v yummy, earthy flavours and rich. The mushrooms totally soaked up the sauce and were juicy! Loved the mushrooms! The foie gras was a little overpowered by the sauce so I suggest you eat it separately! 3.6/5

Australian grain-fed beef tenderloin

Fricassee of wild mushroom, ox tail wellington

(Ala carte: $39)

The boy said the tenderloin was v soft and flavourful!! He really liked the beef (: He also commented how buttery, crispy and flakey the pastry was for the wellington! 4.5/5

Pan Roasted Seabass

Romesco sauce, macorna almond

(Ala carte: $30)

The skin of my sea bass was really crispy! Loved the mini cabbage/lettuce thing cos they were super crunchy! Nice change from the usual veg given. Fish was a bit thin though but nicely done overall! 4.2/5

Chocolate Fondant

Coffee ice cream

(Ala carte: $15)

Think this is not worth the $15 ala carte price tag since its such a small one. Its v dark choc so beware if you're not a fan of that! The bitterness is offset by the slightly sweet coffee ice cream and really, balances the taste well! So try it even if you're afraid of dark choc but eat it w the ice cream! 3.5/5

Service was friendly, but I didnt like the layout of the place. Firstly, not well spaced enough and secondly the table was made out of this weird "fake" material and didnt have table cloth or wtv so the cutlery made a lot of sound on the table when we put it down or wtv. Dinner there was v average affair. On their website they said its their reopening special that the degustation menu is priced at $68++ else its usually $78++ I think?

With other dining options along Boon Tat St, dont think I'll be back for more Private Affairs anytime soon!